Pai Gow is a gambling game played using a set of 32 Chinese domino-like tiles. The tiles are turned face down on a gaming table and randomized by a dealer before they are assembled into a monolithic brick known as a “woodpile.” The woodpile consists of eight adjacent stacks of four tiles each. This woodpile is then “shuffled” in one of a number of scripted rituals that result in a new woodpile before dealing the tiles to players. Bets are made, dice are rolled to further randomize tile distribution, and four tiles are dealt to each player in accordance with one of several defined methods. At this point each player groups his four tiles into a “high” (HI) hand and a “low” (LO) hand. A complex set of rules—including special “power tiles”—defines the value of each hand. The player's goal is to beat both the dealer's high and low hands. Player strategy lies in choosing the best way to pair the four tiles dealt to each player.
FIG. 1 is a flow diagram showing the basic functions 10 required in the play of a hand of a typical Pai Gow game. Playing a hand of Pai Gow entails several shuffle mode steps followed by several play mode steps. The shuffle mode steps include a step 12 of the dealer randomizing the tiles face down; a step 14 of players placing bets; steps 16, 18, and 20 of the dealer, respectively, building an initial woodpile of eight four-tile stacks, shuffling the tiles, and constructing a “post-shuffle (final) woodpile”; and a step 22 of the dealer rolling dice to determine the order in which different ones of the stacks in the woodpile are distributed to the players. A player position denominated the “bank” is the nominal starting location for a deal. The value produced by the dice roll determines an incremental shift from the bank position and thereby establishes the player position from which dealing of the four-tile stacks starts. This starting position is defined as the “action.” The play mode steps include a step 24 of the dealer dealing the tiles; a step 26 of dealer and players forming their HI and LO hands with the tiles face down; a step 28 of the dealer and players exposing their hands; and step 30 of the dealer determining the winners and losers, and collecting and paying out the bets.
Casino margins are typically 1%, and the game is ripe for player/player and player/dealer collusion that can work against the house. Examples of such collusion during game play are dealers steering, by shuffling or illegal deals, “power tiles” to specific players; players substituting tiles; and players exchanging tiles. Actual game play is chaotic, with players free to remove some or all of their tiles while they form their hands. This gaming environment complicates the process of tracking the tiles and ensuring integrity of game play.